Agree to submit to the National Assembly the high-speed railway project in the North

TPO - On the evening of November 6, the National Assembly Standing Committee met to give opinions on the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project. The Standing Committee agreed to submit to the National Assembly for consideration the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway.

TPO - On the evening of November 6, the National Assembly Standing Committee met to give opinions on the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project. The Standing Committee agreed to submit to the National Assembly for consideration the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway.

Resources for investment are no longer a major obstacle.

Presenting the report, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that the 10th Central Party Committee Conference agreed on the investment policy for the entire route, with a speed of 350 km/h, and assigned relevant agencies to complete the documents and submit them to the National Assembly at the 8th session.

The project's pre-feasibility study report assessed the domestic and international context and the development of railway infrastructure, and also clearly stated the reason why the high-speed railway line on the North-South axis was not approved by the National Assembly in 2010, due to concerns about the speed, exploitation plan, and investment resources.

“With the increasing demand for transportation, the economic scale in 2023 will reach 430 billion USD, nearly 3 times higher than in 2010; public debt will be low at about 37% of GDP; the estimated time of construction implementation in 2027, the economic scale will reach 564 billion USD, so investment resources will no longer be a major obstacle,” said Mr. Thang.

The project's objective is to build a high-speed railway line to meet transportation needs, contributing to restructuring the transportation market share on the North-South corridor in an optimal and sustainable manner, creating the premise and driving force for socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security.

The high-speed railway line starts in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station) and ends in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station), passing through 20 provinces and cities, with a route length of about 1,541 km.

Regarding the scale of investment, the Minister said that a new double-track railway line, 1,435 mm gauge, electrified, designed speed 350 km/h, load capacity 22.5 tons/axle; transporting passengers, meeting dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.

The project is proposed in the form of public investment, with a preliminary total investment of about VND 1,713,548 billion (about USD 67.34 billion).

Realistic assessment of financial performance

Examining this content, Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that the project meets the criteria of an important national project and basically meets the requirements for documents and agrees on the necessity of project investment.

Regarding the scope, scale of investment and preliminary design plan, there are opinions suggesting clarifying the route direction according to the principle of "as straight as possible", especially the section passing through Nam Dinh province, to ensure project efficiency.

Chairman of the Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh.

This agency proposed to clarify the plan to connect the high-speed railway line with the national railway network, urban railway and other transport systems; and to connect with regional and international railway networks.

Regarding socio-economic efficiency, according to Mr. Thanh, there are opinions suggesting clarifying the calculation bases for transport demand forecasting, when in fact, in the past, the transport demand forecasting of many BOT transport projects had a large difference compared to reality, leading to inefficiency.

In addition, the State Appraisal Council also believes that the revenue forecast and revenue growth are at a high level, posing many potential risks. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct a thorough review to properly assess the actual financial performance of the project and the possibility of the state budget having to compensate for losses in the future.

In particular, with such a huge capital need, the auditing agency needs to carefully study and consider.

Unified superiority policy, especially

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai said that this is a project of unprecedented scale in our country, with no precedent for implementation, and has been approved by competent authorities. Compared to the current budget situation, the project's investment capital mainly relies on borrowed capital.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai.

The Government needs to absorb the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the review opinions to complete the project dossier. It is necessary to continue reviewing and calculating the total investment and the preliminary design plan to ensure savings and efficiency; supplementing the explanation of the comparison plans to clarify the basis for choosing the route.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly noted that the total investment capital for the project is particularly large, including construction costs and operating and exploitation costs. Therefore, to ensure feasibility and national financial security, a more thorough assessment is needed, given that the country is implementing many urgent and necessary infrastructure projects.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly agreed that there should be outstanding and special policies to implement the project. However, he suggested that the Government review the 19 policies with more specific explanations, carefully assess their impacts, and only include in the resolution those policies that are truly necessary.

The National Assembly Standing Committee requested the Government to absorb comments on revising and completing the project dossier and draft Resolution on investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project to send to the National Assembly, and the Economic Committee to complete the appraisal report to submit to the National Assembly for consideration.

Luan Dung

Source: https://tienphong.vn/thong-nhat-trinh-quoc-hoi-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-hon-67-ty-usd-post1689273.tpo